Furniture bracing



Dec. 11, 1928. 1,695,189

L. R. CLARK ET AL FURNITURE BRA'cINe Filed May 12, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 LuUu TF C/drK '01 Alfred Murrd] yeom'dqf GIL J W Dec. 11, 1928.

- R. CLARK ET AL FURNITURE BRACING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 12 1921 r 0 d 4h! m r e r v/ m I in w Ila d fl C/d r/( "In Patented Dec. 11, 1928.

UNITED sTA'rss 1,695,189 PATENT OFFICE- LUCIUS R. CLARK AND ALFRED MURRAY YEGMANS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; SAID YEOMANS ASSIGNOR TO SAIDCLARK.

FURNITURE BRACZ'TNG.

Application filed May 12,

Our invention relates to means for bracing articles of furniture, such as chairs, tables, beds or the like.

lVith such articles oi furniture, various partssuch as the legs or corner posts are apt to loosen in time, so as to make such articles shaky, creaky and unstable. Various means have heretofore been employed for bracing and reinforcing such l ose-jointed articles, as for exampleby a bracing system connecting the four legs of a chair below the seat and having all parts of the system disposed substantially in a single plane. With arrangements of this kind as heretofore in use, the strain-equalizing means are arranged so that tensioned wire portions can slide back and forth in case the braced chair is subjected to twisting strains, thus still permitting an undesirable amount of relative movement between different parts of tie chair. Moreover, such bracing means as heretofore in use require a large number of specially threaded parts, thus introducing an undesirably high cost for these parts and also requiring considerable labor for screwing the numerous threaded parts upon each other. So also, the disposing of the entire bracing system in substantially a single plane has limited the directions in which the corresponding articl braced and consequently has often been inadequate for securing the desired rigidity.

In one of its numerous objects, our invention aims to provide an arrangement in which a single bolt serves as the means for tensiona bracing system having interconnected parts disposed in two superposed planes, and one in which unthreaded members can be used for transmitting the tension to corner portions of the article of furniture to which the bracing is applied.

More particularly, our invention aims to provide a bracing system employing simple, wire loops, aims to provide strain distributing members adapted for the simultaneous tensioning of both of the main portions of elongated wire loops, and aims to shape these strain distributing members or strain equalizers so that they will kink the said main wire loop portions to prevent sliding of the wire after the bracing system is tightened. It also aims to provide a strain equal-- izer for engagement with a bight of a strain wire, shaped so that it will prevent the equalizer from rocking on the wire.

Our invention also aims to provide simple.

1927. Serial in. 190,900.

connectors for interposition between rods and wire loops, which connectors can readily be adjusted with respect to the rods without requiring any threading of either thereof; aims to provide connectors to which the Wire loop ends can quickly be attached, and aims to provide an arrangement in which the wire loop ends anchor the rods tothe connectors.

urtheri'noro, our invention aims to provide a furniture bracing which can readily be applied to a large variety of articles of furniture with the use of very few tools, and one in which the tensioning of the main wire portions or the bracing system locks various parts of the system against relative motion.

Still further ano also more detailed objects will appear from the following speciiicatio and from the accompanying drawings in whichi Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through a chair braced with an embodiment. of our invention, the section being taken below the of the chair.

F 2 is an enlarged elevation of a portion of the same bracing taken from the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Eig. 3 is a perspective vie'w'of one of the connectors of Fig. 1..

Fig. l is an enlarged perspective view of the head end portion of one of the anchoring rods of Fig.1.

Fig. 5 a perspective view oi one of the wire loops prior to its connection to other parts of the bracing system.

Fig. 6 is a front elevationoi' the upper portion of a stool braced with another embodiment of our invention.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken. along the line 7-4" oil? 5 and looking upwards.

Fig. 8 is an end view of one of the strain distributors of Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6.

F 9 is a section taken through the strain distributor of Fig. 8 along the line 99.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary end view of one of the strain equalizers, viewed from the bot- 7 tom of Fig. 9 or from the line 1010 of Fig. 1.

Referring first to Fig. 1, our bracing as there illustrated includes four anchoring rods having bendable stems 1 which extend respectively through the four legs 2 of the chair in a common horizontal plane towards a common central area 3 (shown in dotted lines) Each anchoring rod desirably has a thin head at of an angular section adapted to fit over the outer corner of the leg through which the stem of the rod extends, so as to anchor the rod against turning. To interconnect the stems of the four anchoring rods we employ four connectors respectively anchored of the stems of these rods, two wire loops each interposed between two of the connectors at the same side of the chair, and a tensioning device interposed between the two wire loops.

Each connector 5 consists of a fiat metal punching having near one end a perforation 6 hrough which the stem 1 t one of the anchoring rods may be slid, and having near its other end a pair of opposed lateral hooks 7 opening toward the first named end of the punching. Each wire loop is preferably endless, or made with an electrical weld between the ends of the wire from which it is formed, this being unnecessary to illustrate here, and each wire loop desirably has its main portions 8 initially spaced by approximately the distance between the two hook formations 7 of the connectors.

In applying our bracing, each connector is slid over one of the rod stems so that this stem extends through the perforation 6 in the connector, and the stem is then bent in a horizontal plane so that the parts 1 outward of the chair from the said perforation, and the stem part 1 inward oi the chair from this perforation respectively engage opposite faces of the connector, as shown in 1, the location of the bends in the rod stem being according to the size of the chair and the lengths of the wire loops employed with this chair.

Each wire loop is first bent fiatwise, so that its main wire portions 8 will be V-shaped in horizontal section, with these portions above one another, and the bights of the resulting two substantially V-shaped main wire portions may initially be rounded, as shown in Fig. 5.

To connect the two medial bights in one wire loop with the medial bights of the other loop, we provide two strain equalizers (shown more in detail in Figs. 8, 9 and 10) and tensioning means (such as a simple bolt) connecting the two equalizers. As here shown, each of these equalizers is a substantially cross-shaped rigid casting including a stem 9, a channel-sectioned head 11 extending transversely of the stem and having its channel opening in the opposite direction from that in which the stem extends and having a portion of the stern disposed within the said channel to r'orm a boss 12. This boss is narrower than the interior width of the channel, so that the main portions of a wire loop may seat in the channel at respectively opposite sides of the said boss.

The bottom of the channel formation has its central portion flat and in a plane at right angles to the axis of a bore 13 which extends longitudinally through the stem and which bore is adapted to receive the shank of a bolt connecting two such equalizers. This fiat bottom portion preferably entendslongitudinally of the channel for a considerable distance beyond the boss 12, or for the distance 14 in Fig. 9, and each end of the channel is rounded toward the stem and also to deepen the channel at each end. The bore 13 may also have an angularly sectioned counterbore at the free end of the stem to receive the usual square shank formation adja cent to the head of a belt of the carriage bolt type, thereby preventing the bolt from rotating in the equalizer adjacent to the head of the bolt.

When two such equalizers are slipped respectively into the pairs of vertically supcrposed apices 8 of the V-shaped main portions (8 and 8 of two elongated loops, each of which wire loops has previously been bent flatwise and has each of its V-shaped main portions disposed in a generally horizontal plane. The two equalizers are connected by a bolt 16 extending through the bores of both equalizers, and the apices 8 of one loop are directed toward the apices of the other loop, so that a tightening of the nut 17 of the said bolt will tension both wire loops. During the early part of this to sioning, each wire loop may slide somewhat with respect to the hooks 7 of the connectors engaged by the ends of that loop, this being permitted by the rounding of .the inner walls of the hooks as shown in Fig. 3. The two main portions of each wire loop can also slide initially longitudinally oi the channel in the head of each equalizer, thereby permitting the two equalizers to shift to positions in which the strains on the several portions of the wire loops are equalized. However, each bore 13 in both equalizers is of a size substantially fitting the shank of the bolt 16, so that this bolt maintains the two equalizers in axial alinemenh During the tightening of the bolt, the initially arcuate medial bigl'its in each main wire loop portion has its apex 8 flatten er it is drawn down tightly against the fiat bottom portion of the channel through which that wire portion extends. Consequently, the tensioned wires engage long flat bottom portions, so that the equalizers cannot rock on these wires, as would be the case it these bottoms were ll-shaped or rounded in longitudinal section. At the same time, the deepened channel ends also cause the two wires in each channel to be drawn toward each. other, so as to approach each other more at the ends of each equalizer than at opposite sides of the boss 12. In other words, the two wires extending through the channel oi each equalizer are kinked toward and away from each other (as shown in Fig. 2), and also have definitely positioned bends in planes transverse of this kinking formed in them adjacent to the ends lit) of the flat groove bottom formation by dotted lines in Fig. 7).

By thus automatically forming decided kinks'and bends in the wires in two relatively transverse planes, we lock the equalizers against shifting along the wires in any direction, without requiring so great a tensioning for this purpose as to strain the wire unduly. As the result, the tensioned bracing system is so rigid that it will stand unusually severe strains without permitting lost motion between its constituent parts.

However, while we have heretofore described our invention as employed with connectors securing each end of the wire loops to single anchoring members, we do not Wish to be limited to this embodiment. Nor do we wish to be limited to the details of the construction and arrangement heretofore described, since many changes might obviously be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

For example, Figs. 6 and '7 show our invention in an embodiment which each end of each wire loop extends through a hook 26 anchored in the leg 27 of a stool and also 'hrough a second hook 28 anchored in the seat 19 of the stool, there being no connector interposed between the wire loops and the anchoring members (26 and 28). In this case, the hooks 26 and 28 are not in vertical a-linement, so that only the equalizer-engaging bight portions of the two main parts 20 and 21 of each wire loop are in vertical alinement. During the tightening of the bolt 16 in this embodiment, the end portions of each wire loop first slide through the hooks and the main portions of the wire loops may slide along the respective equalizers to dispose the constituent parts of our bracing system in positions in which the strains are equally distributed. Then the further tightening of the single bolt tensions in the wire'loops so as to form sharp bends at each hook, which thereafter prevent the loops from sliding wit-h respect to the hooks, besides kinking and bending each main loop portion and flattening the medial apex of that portion after the manner heretofore described.

The same strain equalizers can readily be employed both in the bracing system of Fi 1 and in that of Figs. 6 and 7 thus showing that our novel equalizers can be used in connection with simple wire loops on different articles and with different means employed for anchoring the ends of the wire loops. In each case, it will be evident that the extending of the bolt shank through closely fitting bores in the equalizers will prevent the equalizers from rocking on the bolt in any direction, particularly when the bolt-receiving bore in (as shown each equalizer is of a considerable length. By

having each equalizer engage two superposed and medially spaced Wire loop portions, and

by extending each of these wire loop portions through deepened channel end parts, we also cause the tension of the wire loops to prevent the equalizers from rotating on the connecting bolt. Consequently, we secure the long desired rigidity with an exceedingly simple and inexpensive bracing system which can readily be adapted to a variety of purposes. I

Moreover, our bracing system can be used for simultaneously securing a bracing action in more than one general plane. For example, in Figs. '6 and 7, our simple bracing system prevents the legs of the stool from spreading, draws the seat downwardly toward the legs of the stool, and prevents a spreading of' spaced portions of the seat. Consequently, the'bracina of this stool will hold the seat firmly to t 'e legs even if these are loosely socketed in the seat, and will prevent a cracked seat from spreading apart.

We claim as our invention:

1. Means for bracing an article of furniture comprising two endless wire members each having as its major portion two'vertically spaced V-shapedmain portions presenting superposed apices, the superposed apices of one wire member being directed toward the superposed apices of the othermember; four anchoring means each secured to the article of furniture adjacent to one corner of the latter and each connecting the articleof furniture with the ends of two superposed-arms of one wire member; each of the aforesaid wire members having the ends of its superposed loops connected by bights respectively connected to one of the said pairs of anchoring members; and connecting means interposed between the pairs of superposed apices of the two wire members, the said connecting means comprising two strain equalizers and a bolt connecting the two equalizers, each equalizer having a substantially flat face portion at right angles to the axis of the said bolt and engaging the superposed apices of one wire member.

loo

2. Furniture bracing means as per claim 1,

in which each equalizer has portions adjacent to its said fiat surface portion arranged for separately kinking the superposed apices en'- gaging said surface portion.

8. Furniture bracing means as per claim 1, in which the connecting bolt extends through both strain equalizers between the two apices of the two main wire portions engaging the flat surface portion of that equalizer, and in which each equalizer has a portion projecting beyond its said flat surface portion to space the said apices from each other.

4. Furniture bracing means as per claim 1, in which the connecting bolt extends through both strain equalizers between the apices engaging the fiat surface portion of that equalizer, and in which each equalizer has a portion projecting beyond its said flat surface portion to space the said apices from each other, each equalizer also having end portions over which wire portions adjacent to the apices extend to the said flat surface, the said end portions being grooved so as to force the said wire portions toward each other.

5. A connector for interposition between a tensioning rod and the bight of a tensioned wire loop, comprising a flat metal member having a laterally medial perforation slightly larger than the diameter of the rod and having at its laterally opposite edges two hook formations respectively adapted to receive portions of the said loop, the hook formations having relatively diverging openings directed toward the said perforation.

6. A strain equalizer for interposition between a bolt and a pair of superposed bights of tension wires; comprising a casting having a bore housing a shank portion of the bolt and having the medial portion of one end flat in a surface at right angles of the axis of the said bore and engaging the interiors of the bights of both wires, the casting having edge formations for limiting the distance between the wires of the two bights and having formation adjacent to its bore for kinking the medial portions of the two bights away from each other.

7. In a furniture bracing system, a bendable rod, a loop of tensioning wire, and means for connecting the said loop and rod; the said means comprising a flat metal connector having a perforation through which the rod extends, the rod being bent so as to have portions at opposite sides of the perforation respectively engaging opposite faces of the said connector, and the connector having a pair of hook formations adapted to have the loop extend through both thereof with the bight of the loop overhanging one of the said conhector-face engaging portions of the wire.

8. In a bracing for an article of furniture which has four corner posts, the combination of a plurality of bendable rods respectively extending through the said posts toward a common central area, each rod having a head engaging an outward surface portion of one post, four connectors each having a perforation through which one rod extends, each rod being bent so that portions thereof extending toward and away from the said perforation respectively engage opposite faces of the connector through which that rod extends; two elongated wire loops each having its main portions above one another and each. loop being bent to present a substantially !-shape when viewed from above, each loop having its apex in the said central area and having its ends extending respectively through one of the connectors; each of the said loop ends being looped over the portion of the rod which extends from the perforation in the adjacent connectors toward tie said central area, so as to clamp the last named rod portion to the connectors; and adjustable means interposed between the apices of the two wire loops for drawing these apices toward each other to tension the bracing and to efiect a tight clamping of the connectors to the rod portions which extend toward the said central area.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, May 5th, 1927.

LUCIUS R. CLARK. ALFRED MURRAY YEOMANS. 

